g: a thunderstorm gathering and then sending spears of lightning over the surrounding sandstone massifs, and a wood owl greeting us as darkness fell at camp; then a night of wood owls and fruit bats hooting and chirping a mysterious lullaby.
The highlights of Baleni Camp, aside from the peace and isolation of the rondavels hidden in hectares of mopani, are watching local women harvest and process salt from the Klein Letaba River, and learning how to respectfully approach the local sacred spring, Ka Mkhulu, said to wash bad luck away.
The camp is laid out like a royal kraal, with the 'chief's' rondavel at the top of the hill. Baboons shriek from the forest. Not far off lie sacred sites whose interconnected stories reveal a labyrinth of belief and ritual.